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Belfast lightweight Hyland Jnr was knifed six times during an incident in West Belfast on St Patrick's Day 2010.

English welterweight Upton was stabbed with a screwdriver on Christmas night, 2011 in the Lagmore area of the city.

Both survived to tell the tale of their ordeals, and have labelled those people responsible for attacking Hynes as "cowards".

"They are just cowards," said Hyland Jnr.

"These people would rather take someone's life with a weapon.

Paul Hyland Jnr has scarring on his head after he was stabbed six times in 2010

"It is shocking what happened to Caoimhin and I hope he makes a speedy recovery. I know what it's like.

"I was in my own when I was stabbed. Seven guys from the side of Poleglass walked over and started being cocky with me.

"I ended up in a fight with one of them, but little did I know he was stabbing me. He stuck the knife in my head and ran back to his mates cheering because he had stabbed me.

"I went to walk and instantly but couldn't even stand right. A guy stopped his taxi and they helped me into it and brought me to my house just around corner – the ambulance and cops where there in seconds.

"I kept fading in and out of consciousness because of the amount blood I was losing. But I ended up going straight to hospital and getting sorted in there."

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Upton said he was in tears when he spoke to close friend Hynes on Monday evening, after hearing of the terrifying ordeal and seeing pictures of the young boxer's injuries.

He also said it brought back painful memories of his best pal Eamonn Magee Jnr's murder two years ago.

The promising young boxer was stabbed to death at the home of his girlfriend in Summerhill Drive in the Twinbrook area of Belfast as he went to check on a pizza delivery. He was only 22.

"It is ridiculous," Upton said.

"When I heard about Caoimhin's attack, it just brought back those awful memories about Eamonn's death. I couldn't believe it.

Anto Upton and the wound he sustained after being stabbed by a screwdriver

"I called Caoimhin last night and just spoke to him. I saw he could easily have been killed. I was in tears.

"Sometimes you can be too brave for your own good, and it is better to step away from these flashpoints. Your last breath is more important than a few punches at some scumbags.

"These things happen in the blink of an eye, and Caoimhin's life could have been taken on Sunday night. I am just relieved he is alive and well.

"To me and my family, Caoimhin is like a little brother. I wanted to visit him yesterday but I am training for my next fight in three weeks' time. My bother Sonny booked a flight and visited Caoimhin in hospital, and brought him a nice gift."

Upton said he struggles to comprehend why boxers have been targeted in the past.

"I don't know why boxers get targeted. Possibly people fancy having a go at us. They maybe think that we think we're hard men and they want to put us down. I don't know," he added.

"If these people knew Caoimhin was a boxer, then maybe that was a reason for attacking him. But I don't know if they even know Caoimhin. It could have been any reason."

Caoimhin Hynes pictured in hospital following his attack

Upton has called for the people responsible for the attack on Hynes to be "taken off the streets".

He added: "This knife culture has to stop. It is ridiculous.

"It will carry on, but it is so shocking. These people who carry out these attacks have no thought on what they are doing.

"It is not as if they held Caoimhin down and sliced his face. It was done out of anger and done quickly. There was no thought about it.

"And how close it is to his jugular. That is life and death. These people don't care. They have probably seen it on the news and internet and I guarantee they are bragging about it. Absolute scumbags. It is scary."

Upton said the murder of best friend Magee Jnr left him "empty".

"When it happened to Eamonn, that just crushed me. That was the first time something like that happened to someone really close to me," he added.

Caoimhin Hynes is lucky to be alive after sustaining a horrific facial injury

"When it happened to Caoimhin, I felt sick. But thankfully Caoimhin pulled through and seems to be recovering.

"These scumbags need to be taken off the streets. If they don't get caught, someone needs to report them to police. Someone needs to speak up because there are people out there who know who did this.

"When I saw the pictures of Caoimhin's injuries, I was speechless. I spoke to Caoimhin on the phone and he sounded okay. But I don't think he realised just how lucky he has been."

Anto's brother Sonny – a super welterweight boxer – travelled from London to Belfast on Monday to visit Hynes in hospital (seen in the video below).

"I wanted to visit but I couldn't as I have a fight coming up. Caoimhin told me to focus on my fight," Anto added.

The late Eamonn Magee Jnr with his dad at Breen's Gym (Image: PressEye)

"Sonny just said 'I need to get over there' and he flew from Stanstead to Belfast and brought Caoimhin a gift and stuff.

"We are in a group chat, and we enjoy some banter on that. I just messaged Caoimhin last night and just told him that I love him. I love him to bits.

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"I wasn't able to do that with Eamonn. When I was at Eamonn's wake all I wanted to say was how much I loved him. But it was too late. So I wanted to tell Caoimhin how much he means to me, and others.

"You see the amount of well wishers there have been on social media. That shows you the amount of love out there for Caoimhin. It is massive."